I registered with Groupon MyCityDeal this summer and I love it. Started in the US, “Groupon” is a collective buying power website that offers deal-of-the-day that consumers can buy a voucher for goods and service with discounted price. Deals are available in certain period of time (usually 24 hours), and once the required number of people have signed up to the offer, the deal is made and you can get the voucher. If you don’t want to miss a deal, subscribe the website and the Groupon will send you daily deals via e-mail. They said “up to 90% discount”, but normally about 60% off. Many of the deals are of hair and beauty salons, but there are also restaurants, bars, shops as well as others. Vouchers have an expiration, and many of them are 3 months and 6 months since the day of purchase.

I’ve bought 13 vouchers so far, including restaurants, afternoon tea, wine and food online shops, as well as cleaning and handyman services. I’ve used half of them and I am quite happy with the deals I purchased. But I think I made a mistake today… I applied a deal of Expedia.co.uk, offering £45 hotel voucher for the price of £5, without reading fine print. I realized later that the voucher is valid for bookings minimum spend of £280. We rarely stay at one hotel for more than one or two nights. We usually reserve a hotel only on the first and the last nights, and go around without fixed schedule by a rent-a-car. I wonder if we have a chance to use the voucher… Thank god it’s only £5 and won’t be the end of the world even if wasted. I will definitely read fine print next time I purchase a deal!